Johns Hopkins to boost research funding, but other cuts are coming

The Johns Hopkins University is increasing its in-house research awards by nearly $50 million and cutting administrative costs as it faces what it calls a “debilitating” lag in federal funding.

University President Ron Daniels this week announced the new Research Resilience Fund, which will earmark $60 million annually for the next two years to support faculty, students and research teams who are facing federal grant terminations or delays. It expands the previous $12.5 million in Pivot and Bridge Program funding that was announced last year.

To fund the new endeavor, the university will spend 10% less on its central administration and nearly 20% less on construction and renovation over five years. It will also add revenue through new corporate research partnerships and online and nondegree offerings.

“These objectives will require difficult, and in some cases, painful decisions to fulfill,” Daniels wrote.

Hopkins has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding since President Donald Trump took office last January. The university, which since 1979 has received the most federal research funding in the country, has implemented a hiring freeze, launched a public campaign to support research and nearly doubled its spending on lobbyists since 2024.

This month, Hopkins will form a committee to assess the options for reducing the rising cost of employee benefits, as well.

In 2025, the value of the university’s multiyear federal research portfolio declined by more than $500 million. It received 43% less in federal research funding and 28% fewer awards than in 2024.

Daniels wrote that ”these downward trends have continued unabated.

“Colleagues have expressed confusion, uncertainty, and frustration with the pace and character of decisions from federal granting agencies, especially in the natural and life sciences,” he wrote. “Though our colleagues continue to submit strong research proposals, the sluggish or stalled pace of awards is debilitating.”

The newly announced research funding will be capped at $250,000 per awardee. Previously, departments and divisions where the awardees worked had to match some of the grant funding using their own budgets. The new program will eliminate that, with the acknowledgement that most departments aare now facing budget constraints.

Students and faculty, Daniels wrote, are questioning whether a career in science in the United States remains a viable option. But the university is staying firm in its mission.

“If we are to flourish as a community devoted to ideas and service to society, we will have to summon the wherewithal and indomitable can-do spirit that lies at the core of our identity as America’s first research university,” Daniels wrote.

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